MacIoce

Appellant Thereza Goes Macioce stabbed her husband in the back, and thereby killed him. A jury found her guilty of murder in the second degree. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189.) She was sentenced to serve a term of 15 years to life in the state prison. She appeals from the judgment of conviction.

On appeal she contends (1) that the trial court erred in denying her pretrial motion to suppress evidence obtained after a warrantless entry and search of her apartment; (2) that the prosecutor used peremptory challenges systematically to exclude women, and particularly “battered women,” from the jury; and (3) the trial court erred in finding a witness unavailable, and in allowing the former testimony of the witness to be read to the jury.

We find no error which warrants a reversal, and we therefore affirm the judgment.

I. Basic Background

Mrs. Macioce does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence which supports her conviction. But because she claims the evidence was unlawfully obtained, we describe the circumstances leading to its discovery.

On the night of Tuesday, August 21, 1984, Officer Rosario was driving a police car on routine patrol in San Jose. At 10:58 p.m. two male…